Tres Leches Cake

This is my recipe for a "tres leches cake". Granted, it's always worth it to get the real one from a Mexican bakery. I still like theirs better, but from what I've gathered in my research, this is the recipe I've come up with.

I used fresh strawberries, canned mandarin oranges, fresh kiwi, fresh blackberries, and fresh mango to decorate.

To make the cake:

1.5 cups of flour
1.0 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.5 cup white sugar
5 eggs
0.5 tsp vanilla extract

NOTE: The purpose of the baking soda is to get a better rise in the cake.
NOTE: Try pure vanilla extract instead of imitation vanilla extract.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F for darker pans and 350 degrees F for lighter-colored pans.
2. Grease, then flour the baking pans.
3. Sift flour, baking power and baking soda together.
4. Whip butter, then add sugar bit by bit until the sugar is all added and the texture is fluffy.
5. Separate egg whites and egg yolks.
6. Beat egg yolks into butter-sugar mixture.
7. Meringue (beat until fluffy) egg whites, then add vanilla.
8. Fold meringue mixture into butter-sugar mixture.
9. Gently fold flour mixture in too. Don't beat or over mix, otherwise, the cake will be flat.
10. Pour batter into pans and bake until a toothpick can be inserted into the middle of the cake and come out clean. This will probably be about 20-25 minutes, more or less.


To make the filling:

0.5 cup milk
1.0 cup heavy cream
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 12oz can of evaporated milk

1. Combine all four ingredients.
2. When cake is ready and still hot from the oven, poke lots of holes about 1/2 inch apart.
3. Pour milk mixture on top of cake.
4. Cover cake pan and let the milk mixture soak into cake in the refrigerator for several hours.


To make the topping:

1.5 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
fruit of your choice

NOTE: To save time, you can replace the first three ingredients with storebought whipped cream, preferably in a tub, rather than a can.

1. Whip the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla together until thick.
2. Spread whipped cream over cake.
3. Decorate with fruit.

NOTE: After the cake is finished, keep it refrigerated.